Right my wrongs
by SirAtreides
Summary: After Edward leaves town, Victoria takes a life that's not Bella's. The brunette is long gone and behind her she left ripples of her short time in Forks. A heartbroken wolf experiences first-hand the painful consequences of these. What will happen when he faces Bella after she returns seven years later?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. I've made use of them for my own writing without intent of copyright.**

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Chapter 1.- The dream.

 _I laid a pale rose on top of the casket. Nobody had seen the body inside except for firefighters and the mortician. The elders had refused to. We refused to. It was enough that we could still smell the stench of the burnt flesh. My heart ached, but I couldn't tell the reason why. I had never met her before. I'd listen to her soothing voice over the phone, and I'd seen her in many childhood pictures, but it had been years since our last meeting. That's why it was a mystery that her death irked me so much. We had lost her, yes, but I made sure to avenge her with own hands. Her killer was long gone but I hadn't been able to bring her back. To make her explain why I was so upset over losing her if I had never had her to begin with. After mine, four more roses were laid on top._

" _Let your daughter lay with those who came and went before her, and then take her to your glory, where she will find infinite love and peace." The pastor's grim voice echoed as they started to put her down._

 _My stomach fell when I heard the dry thud from the casket hitting the soil below us and I couldn't contain the wolf within me any second longer. I ran and ran. I tried to get rid of the feeling of being half-empty. The feeling of missing something without knowing what it is. I crashed dozens of trees, trying to scrape my skin and let the feeling bleed out. But it wasn't working._

 _After struggling for hours and getting no result, I laid in the forest, hurt and confused. I let days, maybe weeks pass by. For the first time, it was all silent. No voices in my head. I felt how my skin sucked into my ribs, how my mind wandered between the conscious and unconscious. I was just waiting for the last day to come like that._

" _Son," a voice called after the sky turned completely dark one night._

" _Did I die, too?" I asked, hopeful._

" _Son," it called again. "I'm afraid you did, but your walk between the living hasn't ended yet. I can't let you enter my realm."_

" _Let me die, please," I begged._

" _Son… why do you want to hurt me, your mother? The journey I traced for you still has many more steps until it is over," the Voice said with a pained tone._

" _It feels like I've died, too. Just let me die with her," I cried. "I beg you."_

" _Oh, my sweet son… I shall cut this pain that makes you beg for death. I shall give you physical pain instead, though. But not without the promise of another chance," the Voice explained softly._

 _For a second, I felt as if I was being lifted into the air with enormous care. I let myself do. A warm feeling spread from my core to the tip of every finger. The warmth quickly evolved, and I felt like fire burned my alive. I screamed and twisted, but the fire never ended, and I was never fully engulfed by it. I couldn't remember when it had started, and I didn't know when it would end. My own screams pierced my own ears. I wanted to beg for it to end, but I couldn't speak over the pain. Something pulled from my middle section, painfully crawling out of my body, and making the biggest effort to open my eyes, I saw a charred figure detaching from my body. It was her. It was Rachel Black. I screamed again._

I woke up in sweat and with my throat feeling like sand paper after yet another nightmare. I glanced outside to confirm that I was in bed, in my room, at home. The sun peeked through the mountains, and the alarm clock soon went off. It was barely six in the morning. Knowing that I would be more tired if I went back to sleep, I decide to start my day off a little earlier than usual.

I tiredly walked myself out of bed, towards the shower. Outside was early November, but my body begged me for a cold shower. I growled thinking that I should soon stop these or I would freeze my piping. The water ran against my body, making it shudder at first, but then regulating the rising body temperature that the bad rest had given me. I washed myself, trying to be delicate with my middle body. There, a scar proved that my nightmare had been more of a recollection. Gruesome and bumpy, a line extended from my belly button to the middle of my chest, and similar one ran down until stopping at my waistline. I finished washing while trying to get the horrible image of Rachel out of my mind.

I walked out of my bathroom after turning off the shower and wrapping a towel around my waist, going straight into my closet and putting on just enough clothes not to look like a lunatic when going outside. After years of being stared at, I realized that a twenty-three-year-old wouldn't walk around in cut off shorts and no shirt in the beginning of winter. Joggers, a sweatshirt, and a black leather jacket did the trick, although they felt a little stuffy. I glanced at the back of the walk-in closet as I made my way out, aware that it looks empty with my scarce clothing selection, since it was made for two rather than one. I tried to picture someone filling in the space, but the image of Rachel popped into my mind, like every other time I did.

Having thought of the Black twin way too much that morning, I decided to clear my mind with exercise. More often than not, I would end up running between five and ten miles around the reservation to clear my mind from unpleasant memories, and this very Saturday wouldn't be exception. I made my way out of the house feeling like something bad was going to happen, although nothing would be as bad as having to spend my time with my own memories.

I took the same old trail behind my house – the one that would lead me into First Beach while avoiding anyone that I might've known. I especially avoided the pack's homes, knowing that they never fully understood what I was thinking. Over the years it got easier, as people moved out of their parents' and started living on their own, scattered across the reservation. There were always the three big ones to avoid, though. The Clearwater, Uley, and Black households stood one after the other, always to be avoided.

The first one was mostly because Sue and Leah Clearwater always looked at me with pity, especially since the youngest female and her brother phased and had unlimited access to my fucked-up mind. Harry had kept them in line until before his passing, but they felt free to feel bad for me all the time after that. And that went for Sam and Emily too. After Sam's mother had passed away, the newlyweds moved into the alpha's childhood home. Home that Emily and Sam would constantly assure was 'always open' to me. I growled with disgust. I didn't need a reminder that people felt bad for me. Lastly, I wouldn't be constant reminder to Billy Black and his son that Rachel couldn't be saved in time, so it was the Black's whom I avoided the most.

After a couple miles, I shuddered without feeling cold. I turned around the trail and saw a big pair of amber eyes looking at me from the distance. A russet wolf stood solemnly between the trees.

"What do you want, Jacob?" I asked, trying to hide the surprise from my voice. I rarely went out when the youngest Black was on patrol. "Huh?"

Jacob retreated for a moment into the denser forest and then came out wearing the typical cut off shorts and nothing else. How long had it been since I had last seen him? Months, probably. He still looked young, considering that he phased the most out of everyone in the pack, although he didn't look like the kid he was before. You could tell that he aged just enough to shed the last bits of his teenage self.

"How's it going, Paul?" He asked as he approached me.

"Same old, same old," I repled nonchalantly. "Everything's shit but at least I have a free day today."

"You know… you should stop by mine's," he said, trying to sound comforting. "My dad would like to see you from time to time..."

"I have nothing to do at your house, Jacob." I mumbled coarsely.

"Billy… dad, he wants to talk about Rachel, he thinks it will make you good," Jacob said, like it wasn't a crazy idea what he was suggesting.

"Tell your dad that I don't want to, or need to," I replied even more harshly than before. "I have enough scars already."

"C'mon, Paul… it's been seven years already…" Jacob said under his breath, and I know he wasn't trying to rub a wound, but it did.

"I'm not mourning your sister, Jake," I replied, trying to get him off me. "I literally died and came back, bound to relive it in dreams. This is not about you or your family. This is about me trying to forget how awful that was!"

I knew that what I said isn't completely true. I just didn't want Jacob looking at me with those eyes anymore. He sighed, and I backed off a little.

"At least come to his birthday dinner next week," Jacob said finally. "This is an order from Sam too, so I hope you make it. We'll have other guests, so don't feel like you have to talk to anyone. Just make an act of presence."

Jacob then left when he understood that I wouldn't confirm my attendance. He ran towards the forest and got lost in the distance. I remained silent for a while, before crashing my fist against a tree and breaking through the bark. _Goddamnit_. I went back to running, trying to convince myself that there was a way around it, although I knew there wasn't. I would have to visit Billy Black's home. Rachel's home.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. I've made use of them for my own writing without intent of copyright.**

Chapter 2.- The visit.

I woke up to the smell of eggs, bacon, hotcakes, and coffee. I was still groggy from the night before since I patrolled until dawn following a dead lead, no pun intended. It took me a second to remember what day it was and where I was. Convinced that Billy had woken up on his own birthday to make himself a bountiful breakfast, I rushed downstairs to scold him, not forgetting to smile good morning at the pictures that hung in the hallway as I passed by. Mom, Rachel, and my grandparents, all smiled back – or at least their pictures did. As that happened, dishes were being put down and I reminded myself to not let my dad get too ahead of me into eating what smelled like a time bomb for a sixty-year-old with diabetes.

"Dad, even if it's your b-day you should still be conscious of what you eat, remember what Dr. Ferris…" I started the typical scolding but was stopped on my tracks by the figure of someone who was not Billy.

A slender, pale, and beautiful brunette was standing in my kitchen making breakfast. _Bella_. My mind tried recalling the last time I saw her – maybe Christmas almost two years ago. It didn't matter, because she was there… looking slightly different. Her hair had grown longer, for instance. The subtle curves of her body had become more obvious, maybe because of her clothes, maybe because of exercise. Exercise that made sure her legs and bottom were now tight and toned. I couldn't tell very well, but I guessed she was wearing light makeup. Her clothes were fashionable but modest, and although she wasn't wearing heels, the satin flats that she wore were a huge jump from her signature sneakers. It was an adult Bella, different from the teenage and college Bella that I had known, but Bella nonetheless.

"Hope you don't mind I took over your kitchen," she said with a pearly white smile that made me think of the people in infomercials. "Sue said that you would appreciate it since my dad took your dad fishing."

I don't know if I looked like an idiot the whole minute it took me to realize that she was real. Maybe a stupid smile drew itself on my face before I rushed to take her by her waist and lift her up into a bear hug. Oh, I had missed her. She was tinier than I remembered, and she had definitively lost weight. I would've been worried for her health had her muscles had not been toned enough to say the opposite. As I put her down I couldn't help but to imagine what it would've been like to always hold her like that. It wasn't a secret that Bella Swan had been my first puppy love, and that I carried a torch for the girl well into my teens. Now it seemed more platonic, but sometimes one couldn't help but to wonder.

"What brings you here?" I said, with the excitement showing a little too much in my voice. "I thought you were somewhere in the east coast until the end of the year."

"I couldn't have missed Billy's 60th birthday." She said with a warm smile. "And there's someone that I want to introduce to everyone."

I knew who she was talking about, or well, more like _what_ she was talking about. The cold and massive stone that rested on the heart finger of her left hand was too much to ignore. Charlie had spoken about the guy not so caringly, but still proud that Bella had gotten herself an "east coast big shot" as fiancé – his words not mine. It seemed so out of character for Bella to become part of the socialite, with brunches and mimosas, but I guessed that's what happened to nice, beautiful girls who ended up in Dartmouth for college. I still pretended to be surprised, though, not wanting to let her know that I secretly soaked in every detail Charlie gave me and my dad about her life.

"Is it that serious? You have to tell me all about him," I said with a half-smile.

"He'll come later tonight," she said rather grimly, but I took it as her being nervous. "I think you might like him… he can be a little dull, though. He's a little bit of an east coast preppy guy. So, don't say I didn't warn you."

"Don't worry, I won't rough him up too much," I said with a laugh, which she replied with an awkward smile.

"Should I be worried?" Bella raised an eyebrow, at which I chuckled and hugged her to appease her.

"Nah, I'll be nice, I swear," I said while putting a hand over my chest.

Bella replied with a relieved chuckle and then instructed me to start eating breakfast, as it was getting cold.

"I swear you eat too much to have that body of yours," she said while watching me eat a bowl of cereal after having eaten most of the breakfast she had made.

I raised both eyebrows and pretended to not understand what she was talking about. There was only so much I could share with Bella about my life, after all. I craved to explain why in the world I would be able to eat two whole cows and still feel hungry, but that would only earn me a frown from the pack and one of Sam's apprehensive speeches. Although I was 99% sure that Bella had faced the supernatural – she dated a leech, after all – it wasn't on me to spill the beans on the legends of my people. Even though I had done it when I wasn't aware of them being real.

"So, who's coming tonight?" Bella asked after understanding that I wouldn't address her previous statement.

"The usual – Jared, Kim, Sam, Emily, Embry, Quil, the Clearwaters, and hopefully Paul Lahote," I listed, knowing that not many people outside the pack really showed up anymore.

"This Paul… you guys mention him a lot, but I've never seen him around," Bella said while munching on the piece of bacon that still rested on her breakfast plate. "He dated Rachel, right? Just before the accident," she now said with a lower voice, knowing that the accident was a sensitive topic.

"Sort of," I answered. "It's a little complicated for him, so I wouldn't bring it up if he showed up."

"Oh, of course not, Jake," she replied with a frown. "I'm socially awkward, but not to that extent."

I chuckled a little, but that didn't seem to lighten up her mood. She was probably beating herself for even bringing Rachel up. She had felt guilty over my sister's death seven years prior, although it didn't really weigh on her.

"It's alright, Bells," I put my hand over hers on the table. "My dad and I have made our peace around it. Paul… he just wasn't ready to lose Rachel like that."

"I understand," she said quietly.

And that wasn't a lie, although I stretched the truth a little bit. It was true that Billy and I were better than Paul, but it did weigh on our shoulders that despite having the pack around, Rachel fell pray of a leech. She had been home only a few days from college, and because she needed a ride she used Bella's old Chevy as a favor from Charlie. Not even into her first few hours with it, the firefighters were called to the scene where the whole truck, and Rachel with it, had been engulfed by a blazing fire.

The official story was that Rachel lost control and crashed, which made the fire happen real fast. But Paul was more perceptive and smelled the tracks of a bloodsucker, and the rest of us were not even close when he had already ripped apart a redheaded leech on his own. We never got to find out why she did it, but it was enough for most of us that she was gone. Paul couldn't wrap his head around it, though. After Rachel died he disappeared for weeks, before returning more scarred than before, both physically and emotionally. He never told anyone exactly what happened to him, and none of us could look into that part of his mind. He spoke about it once, with Old Quil, before the man passed, and we were discreetly relayed the message that Paul felt the loss of his imprint even before he could feel the bond form. A sickness rarely seen, but still very real. Nobody mentioned Rachel around him since, except maybe for me.

"I should get cleaning before our dads show up," Bella said, bringing me back to reality.

"Let me help you," I offered, picking up my own plates.

"Thank you, Jake," Bella smiled again, and I felt a lot better.

"Sure, sure," Jacob said with a smile.

Billy and Charlie arrived a little later than expected, but still on time to prepare all the fish they had gotten for that night. Both hadn't changed much, except for a few gray hairs here and there. They were still all buddy-buddy and gossiped like two old grandmas. The only difference might've been that Charlie was now out of the market, while my dad remained ever-single.

"It would be great if you put to use some of that pineapple Becca send," Billy told me as I was wrapping up some of the fish to bake for tonight's dinner.

"I don't think they're that ripe yet, but I will see what I can do," I replied, as I looked over my shoulder to the living room.

Sue, now Clearwater-Swan, had walked in not long after our fathers. She was in the living room with Bella and Charlie, chatting and catching up with the girl, too busy to notice that their laughs had gone up an octave. I felt relieved to see that things were settling. To see that my friends were growing up, that we were living relatively normal lives. No more vampire boyfriends, no more people shifting without knowledge, no more sorrow and suffering. Just a somewhat normal and tranquil life. It made me nostalgic of the times when we were barely aware of things, when it seemed like things kept piling up, not knowing that good times were coming up.

"So, Bella, when's that boyfriend of yours gonna show up?" My dad asked as he left me behind in the kitchen. I put some effort into trying to hear the conversation, although I would've heard anyway.

"He's flying in right now into Port Angeles, so maybe less than a few hours," she said, and I could hear the stiffness in her voice. I wondered how nervous she was about introducing him to us. "I'm sure Immanuel will be the last one to arrive."

"Immanuel?" Billy said with amusement, and I followed with a laugh. _What kind of name is Immanuel, anyway?_

"You guys can call him Royce if you can't behave yourselves," she huffed.

And then it clicked. Immanuel… Royce. I dropped what I was doing and rushed to the living room.

"You're telling me that your fiancé's name is Immanuel Royce?" I asked, trying not to sound crazy.

"Yeah," she said, blushing. "I didn't want to make a big deal out of it."

"Damnit, Bella!" I said, shocked. "It is a big deal! Holy shit, we're having Immanuel Royce in our house."

"Who's Immanuel Royce?" Billy asked, confused.

"Only the youngest VR videogame developer. His dad is Lucio Royce, the dude was a NYC corporate lawyer before he ran for congress. They're old money, too," I explained, seeing Bella furiously blush.

"You didn't have to memorize his biography, Jake," she complained.

"I didn't mean to, but really. The guy is like rich, even without his parents' money. Seth loves his videogames," I explained to Billy. "Lately, it's all he _talks_ about."

"Oh, so he's been _talking_ about it," my father replied, knowing I was talking about the pack mind. "What's it named again? That game he likes. _Ready to kill?_ "

" _Assassin: Shooting to eliminate_ ," Bella and I said in unison.

"I didn't take you for a videogame girl, Bella," Sue says. "I personally dislike that game. Ugh, I don't know why Seth likes it so much."

"I am not. Immanuel is a developer at work, but at home he isn't a tech-heavy guy, so it works," she explained with a shrug.

"You guys live together?" I asked. That, I didn't know.

"Only for about a year," she said. "We're going on two years and then some, so we guessed it was only normal that we did."

"How did he pop the question?" asked Billy, excited.

"He gave me a first edition copy of _Pride and Prejudice_ for my birthday. I hadn't seen it coming, and I told him that the gift was too expensive. I didn't want anything that I wouldn't be able to return… so he said that he would give me something cheaper that I could return. I didn't expect him to pull out the ring. I knew we were headed that way, but I couldn't have imagined he would propose so soon after we moved in together," She told us with a vague look.

"Oh, Bella! He's such a romantic, then," Sue said with a smile.

"I guess," Bella said while shrugging, with her cheeks blushing fiercely.

I wanted to know more about Bella's fiancé, but my senses alerted me of someone parking on the driveway. It was the soft rumble of a truck that I knew well but hadn't heard in a long time. I stood quickly and glanced through the window to confirm my suspicions. I quickly went to the door and swang it open to let Paul know that I wouldn't let him run away.

"It's early," I said, not knowing what else to say to him.

"Sam and Emily are right behind, they forced me to come," He said between his teeth. He threw his head back before looking at me in the eye. I held the look until the sound of Sam's truck over the gravel made me look at them. Emily quickly abandoned the vehicle while holding a couple of containers, food enough just for a couple wolves.

"Hey, Jake," she said in her melodious voice. "Why don't you help me with this?" She passed me the containers and walked herself inside.

Sam gave me a silent smile and tapped on Paul's arm, indicating for him to go inside. I remained there for a second, shocked, but ultimately pleased. Life was finally working out for the better. I was hit by the sound of happy laughs and friendly introductions once I went back inside.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or any of its characters. I've made use of them for my own writing without intent of copyright infringement.**

 **A/N: I normally don't adress POVs but in this chapter, Bella's is very short, so I made sure to distinguish from hers and Paul's. Hopefully you guys will like it.**

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Chapter 3.- The meeting.

 _[Bella]_

I had to step out of Billy's party as soon as Jacob left the room. I excused myself to the toilet and silently stepped out of the back door into the sun deck that was rarely used by the Blacks. It wasn't a wheelchair-accessible space, and during the winter it was cold enough to numb your face. There was frost on the floor, the chairs, and the little fence around it, so I opted to lay against the wall below the faint light of the outdoor lamp.

"Fuck," I let myself whisper at the wind. I rubbed my hands and then blew my breath against them, trying to keep myself warm.

I glanced back to the house through the window. Charlie, Sue and Billy were still talking happily. I sighed, happy no to be there anymore. As much as I loved my father and his friends, it was nerve wrecking to have them breathe down my neck all the time. I knew that they were traying to be nice and to get to know me – the estranged daughter – a little better. After all, I hadn't really visited Forks much through the years. The last time that I was there for more than a couple days was Christmas almost two years before. Since then, I only called or Skyped Charlie from time to time, allowing myself to stay away from the rainy town. I let another sigh out.

"What are you doing, Bella?" I asked myself out loud.

I looked at my watch and wondered if Immanuel would show up soon enough. My thoughts wandered onto my memories of him promising to behave like a normal person when at Billy's – no lavish gifts and no grand entrances. Just his normal self. His blue eyes almost closed and wrinkles formed around them when he laughed at my concerns, like they normally do when he laughs at anything. He was sure I was exaggerating. But was I, really? Maybe, but maybe not. I knew him so well that sometimes it was hard to predict what he was going to do. It was as likely for him to bring a brand new T.V. for Billy or a nice bottle of wine to celebrate the occasion.

I heard footsteps coming into the house and guessed people had arrived. I didn't glance back again, afraid to give away my whereabouts through the window. It wasn't Immanuel, Seth or Leah, and whoever it was, was too quiet to be Quil or Embry, which left Sam or Jared with their respective partners. I hoped for it to be Jared and Kim. I didn't have a problem with Sam and Emily, but the pair had just gotten married and I wasn't in the mood to share an hour-long conversation with Emily about the only thing we had in common. At least Kim was pleasantly quiet.

"Billy! Happy Birthday!" I heard Emily's child-like voice say.

I sighed, knowing that if I went back in, I would have to face them. I had taken long enough in "the bathroom" and had no idea how much I could keep my break going before someone came looking for me.

"Is Bella around? Oh, it's so exciting to have another person to talk about marriage stuff!" Emily's voice reached me, and I rolled my eyes.

Emily had tried hard to bond with me for years. That at least since my father married her aunt, and I knew that it wasn't because she was thrilled to be my friend. She actually wanted to open up a door, so to speak – a door that would lead her straight to Leah. After becoming step-sisters, Leah and I grew closer, despite being so different and butting heads often. So, when Emily and Sam married, and things turned even more sour than before, Emily tried to reach out to her new political cousin as an excuse to reach out to Leah. The Makah native tried hard, but to no avail. I was too uncomfortable around her. That didn't prevent her from relentlessly trying, though.

I tried pushing the overcomplicated thoughts out of my head, but it was impossible. Every time I went into Forks, that happened. It was just a wave of stressing thoughts, one after the other. That's why I avoided the place so much.

I scrambled through my coat's pockets trying to find a little metal case. I had decided that I wasn't going back into the house soon enough. I found the metal case in my inner pocket. It was a cigarette case, with a mosaic Swan on the cover. It was given to me by one my writers. She had decided that I could pick up the habit of smoking socially.

" _Because when editors and writers smoke together, a literary enchantment is created around them_ ," she had said.

I normally hated it, but it was an okay way to relieve the nerves. If people asked, I could say that I needed a smoke break, as unwholesome the habit was. That would allow me to stall long enough. I put one cylinder between my lips and took one of the little matches in the case. I used the wall to light it and with it the cigarette. I took the smoke into my lungs and let it take away all my anxieties as once.

* * *

 _[Paul]_

When I went into Billy's home, silence reigned. The Chief of Police was telling something to his wife and Billy, but both adults turned their heads to look at me in shock.

"Paul, son, what a surprise to see you here," Billy murmured.

"Isn't nice? We managed to convince him to come," Emily replied with a smile while she posed her hand on my shoulder. I looked at her for a brief second, and then turned to the elders.

"Happy Birthday, Billy," was all that I said in a raspy voice.

"Oh, yes," Emily said with a half-smile. "Billy! Happy Birthday!"

She crossed the living room and went towards him to give him a bear hug. She bent down, and Billy passed his arms across her back, chuckling a little. Charlie looked at the scene with a smile, while Sue still noticeably stared at me, shocked.

"Happy Birthday," Sam congratulated him from afar, always solemn. Billy nodded in acknowledgement.

"I can't wait for the others to come," Jacob voiced as he crossed the doors with Emily's food in hands. "Sue, do you know when Leah and Seth are coming? Quil and Embry shouldn't take long."

"Well, they should be here soon… Seth still has work for another half hour," Sue said in her calm voice, not removing her eyes from me.

"Is Bella around?" Emily asked. "Oh, it's so exciting to have another person to talk to about marriage stuff!"

"She went to the bathroom, and should be back any second," Charlie said.

I looked at Sam, who shrugged too fast to be noticed by anyone else. We both knew Emily's intentions: If you stick to Isabella Swan, you stick to Leah too. I wanted to give props to my cousin-in-law for effort, but that sail had shipped, and it wasn't going to turn around on her. I gave Sam an apologetic look.

"So, Paul…" Billy said, interrupting my silent exchange with Sam. "How's everything going, son?"

I hated it when he called me son. _I'm not your son, never was, never will be._ "Good, busy as usual. How about you, Billy?"

He wasn't expecting me to ask anything back, because he had to think for a second before replying with a series of "fines".

Emily nodded at me with enthusiasm. She liked when I spoke to people. Same went for Jacob. I could smell his excitement from where I was standing. I let out a sigh and started looking for an escape route. Sam and I just hoovered around the room, not knowing what to say. We weren't people of many words. Jacob had slipped back into the kitchen. My eyes wander to the front door. I asked myself if it would be too weird for me to leave after only five minutes in the house.

"I think we haven't been properly introduced," Charlie Swan says before I can excuse myself back to my truck. I know him, but not really. He was the Chief of Police, and that was about it. "Charlie. I'm Billy's friend."

"Nice to meet you," I put my hand out and the Chief of Police reaches out to shake it. "Paul Lahote… I'm Sam's cousin."

"It's good to see you around, kid," he said. I raised an eyebrow and briefly looked at Sue. What had she told her new husband? "These parties are a blast, but seeing a new face is always refreshing around here. Jacob should put more effort into diversifying this friend group of yours."

Everyone else but me laughed a little at Charlie's comment and I felt myself relaxing. I wasn't ready for him to join the feel-bad-for-Paul Club.

"Yeah, maybe I should come around more," I murmured.

"And you should get to know Bella, too," Charlie said more enthusiastically. "If that girl gets more friends from around here I bet she'll visit more often."

I cringed at the idea of the leech lover coming back. Was she still a leech lover? It was hard to know. She had left not even a month after we found her catatonic in the woods, where her vampire boyfriend had abandoned her. I wondered from time to time what she did to live by, to be the only one knowing that she had dated such a horrible creature. Despite my reluctance to say that I was excited to meet her I managed to draw my friendliest half-smile and nod at Charlie.

"Yeah," it's all I managed to say.

"You should grab a couple beers, guys," was the first thing Sue said after we got there. "They're in the kitchen."

"I can go grab them," Sam offered, leaving me alone with Emily and the elders.

Sue and Billy seemed incapable of coming up with something to say, so they just sat in silence. Charlie was taking a sip of his beer and reaching for Sue's hand, probably wondering what made his wife look so conflicted. It was a celebration, after all.

"So, Charlie, who's this person Bella got engaged to?" Emily asked trying to revive the conversation and channel the attention away from the awkwardness.

"This guy named Royce, very nice kid, very preppy, but nice," Charlie started talking and Emily took a seat near Sue, who was also listening attentively. The chief rambled on about him being some sort of tech mogul. I wondered if he was human, at least.

Not knowing how to inject myself into Charlie's conversation, I fidgeted for a little before remembering I had a pack of cigarettes in the pocket of my jacket. I thanked myself for at some point buying a pack. It was probably still new.

"Uh, Billy… is there a place where I can have a smoke? I won't take long," I say, surprising him.

"Yeah, yeah… the sun deck should be okay. It's just at the end of the hall, through the door," Billy said, pointing at the hall behind him.

"Thanks," I said, before leaving the space.

As I walked to the back my muscles relaxed, and I realize that I'd been clenching my jaw the whole time. I sighed, knowing that Billy and Sue were probably shocked not only to see me, but to experience first-hand the anxiety and pain that caused me to be near anything related to Rachel Black. Her image – or her sister's, it was hard to tell – hung in the hallway walls in the form of tens of pictures. Some of them, she was next to Rebecca and Jacob. In others she was alone, at school and with friends. I tried soaking in the image of a healthy, happy, and _living_ Rachel, maybe to replace the charred, horrifying image that hunted me in dreams.

I reached the back and swung the door the open. I was surprised when a little figure let out a muted screech. A pair of chocolate doe-like eyes stared at me and a silver case hit the ground, letting its contents spill out across the deck. It took both of us a second to react, before bending down to pick up the cigarettes and matches from the floor. Bella Swan had left her still lit cigarette on the floor, next to her. I didn't take her for a smoker, but then again, I – a nonsmoker – was there with the intention of lighting one as well.

"Thank you," she murmured when we had finished putting everything back into the case. It was a little bit cheesy, but I found endearing that it had a swan on its cover. I let a chuckle scape my lips. "What?"

"I just didn't think you'd be a smoker" I said, amused.

"Excuse me?" She asked while furiously blushing. She was upset. It was fun to see, but didn't want to upset her even more, so I just drew a half-smile in an effort to calm her down.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry… I obviously don't know you enough, I just thought it was a little funny," I apologized. "Everyone always talks about you, and this is not the mental image I had of you," I explained as I signaled to the cigarette in her hand and her nervous but feisty demeanor.

She huffed, still a little offended. "Well, this isn't how I imagined you as well," she glanced at me briefly before facing me completely. "My guess is that you're Paul Lahote?"

"The one and only," I replied, pulling out my pack and taking a cigarette out of it. "Bella Swan?" I asked, raising my eyebrows and putting the cylinder between my lips.

"The one and only," she mirrored my response. "Need a light?" she asked after seeing me pat my jacket in look of a lighter.

I nodded, and she offered a match out of her little case. I took a drag or two before observing her again. She was fidgeting and looked uncomfortable, but I couldn't tell if it was because of the cold or something else. We smoked in silence for a little longer, and surprisingly I didn't feel totally uncomfortable with the girl around me.

"So… were you running away too?" She finally asked, after putting out her cig. I raised an eyebrow towards her, and then shrugged.

"More or less," I replied nonchalantly. "I don't like parties that much."

"Me either," she interjected. "Not into all the asking."

"About?" I ask. I don't really know why, but I'm curious enough.

"Well, if you don't know already…" she said while putting her left hand out of her pocket and putting up for me to see, "I'm getting married – and everyone is making a big deal out of it."

"Big rock you got there," I mentioned. She could buy a house or two with that ring, for sure.

"Don't even start me," she huffed.

"At least you're bringing good news around," I say, trying to bring up the brighter side. "I don't think people have been this excited about anything since Sam and Emily's wedding."

"Is there any other thing that would get them excited?" Bella desperately asked. I chuckled once more.

"Only a baby," I say with a half-smile. "They're getting grandparent-old, you know?"

Bella let out a groan, which I found so amusing. She was far from the image I had made out of her. Maybe because it came from the glimpses of others' impressions on her.

"So, they won't stop, huh?"

"No, don't think so," I laughed between my teeth and she did the same.

Without noticing, I had stablished some sort of communication with Bella Swan. I struggled to relate the image of the girl being carried out of the woods, to the many plastered in the minds of Jacob, Seth, and Leah, and then this one of her in the Black's sun deck. I glanced at her again, trying to make my own image of the girl. Her clothes were mature, but her demeanor was completely different but not childish – something I couldn't put my finger on. I was drawn to the way she didn't look at me but wasn't avoiding my presence. It was probably the first time in a while that someone didn't act like I was going to break at any second.

"So… what brought you here?" she asked me after a few more drags. Her cig was almost out. "Like… what finally compelled you to come to a party like this? I haven't seen you around before."

"Let's say that even if Sam's a quiet one, he's good at talking people into things," I shrugged, to which she flinched a little.

"Yeah, I've heard of it," she said while putting the butt out.

It took me a second to understand what she meant by that. She was talking about Emily and Leah. Before anything could escape my mouth, the door flew open. It was Leah Clearwater who peeked outside. Her straight black hair hung as curtains from the sides of her face, now long enough to reach past her shoulders. Last time I had seen her, she still had the pixie cut that allowed her to phase into a wolf with decent fur length. She eyed me, surprised or pissed, I never knew the difference, and then she turned to her stepsister with a smile. Bella's expression went from conflicted to happy in less than a second after she got a view of Leah. They squealed and locked into a hug faster than I got to understand the situation. I stepped back while the hug continued.

"Leah! Oh god, it's so good to see you!" Bella said, drawing a big smile on her face as she examined the taller girl. "Your hair is so long now!"

"I don't have to cut it for sports anymore," Leah said, giving me a brief look. She told her that as an excuse? I wasn't going to out her, but I thought it was funny. "You also grew yours out."

"I like it better this way, and Immanuel says it gives me this mature look," she responded with a half-smile.

"It does, for sure," Leah comments, before looking through the window. "You know, Seth is also here, and he is dying to see you. You should go inside. Charlie is worried you got stuck in the toilet."

Bella sighed heavily. "Promise me that you won't leave me alone with Emily though," she said.

"I won't, promise." Leah replied.

"Well, it was good to meet you, Paul," Bella said, finally looking back at me. "Hopefully I'll see you around…" She gave me a smile before entering the house.

I gave her a nod and saw her disappear through the door. I noticed how Leah was looking at me, in confusion.

"Paul Lahote at a house party?" She said in her usual mocking tone.

"What do you want, Leah?"

"I was just wondering what made you come here, since you _never_ do," she replied, shrugging a little.

"Sam ordered."

"Of course," she huffed. I raised an eyebrow at her and she rolled her eyes. "Not that surprises me, anyway."

"Heard you quit the pack," I murmured.

"Hence the long hair," she replied. "Not that you would notice me gone. Aren't you on night patrol always?"

"It helps that I'm on call for the fire department, though we don't get many calls," my eyes wandered around, not knowing what to say. That had been the longest conversation that I ever had with Leah since the accident. "The crazy schedules somehow end up matching up most of the time."

"Sounds like you're living the life," Leah clicked her tongue. "Becoming a hermit sounds fun."

"Much more fun than avoiding your family altogether, and the pack too," she rolled her eyes and I sighed. "Well, at least your sister seems nice enough, even though she doesn't know much about all us."

"Ugh, don't you even dare," she began. "She's engaged, you know?"

"I am not stupid, Leah," I replicated, although I didn't know what I meant totally. "Besides, it's not like I can… anymore, anyone else."

"I know, I know… just be nice, okay? She doesn't come here often, and the whole pack thing is already complicated when I cannot explain to her why Sam and Emily are glued to each other and why Seth and I don't look much older," she explained with a pained smile. "She seems to like you. That's good."

"I will keep that in mind when Sam forces me here again." I smiled at her.

"You better do, Lahote," Leah said, before turning around and reaching for the door.

"Hey, Leah," I called her, "how come you're so nice right now?"

She turned her face to look at me, puzzled. "Have I ever not been?" I shook my head and looked straight into her eyes.

"I am being serious… for the longest time nobody could look me in the eye, much less you. What's up with you all now?"

"Well, I can't speak for the pack anymore, but seven years of self-loathing seems like enough," Leah said nonchalantly. "Also, it's not like I felt bad for you per se. I was angrier at this whole tribe thing – they fucked both of us over. I guess I was bad at communicating that from the beginning."

I was left speechless. I nodded, and Leah nodded back. It just felt better than saying anything else. She continued, while I tried to finish my cig the fastest I could. The more time I spent inside, the less time I would have to be here. I heard the faint laugh of Bella Swan all the way from the living room before I decided to make my way in.


	4. Notice

Hello Everyone!

I am writing to officially let you know that I am putting this story in a hiatus. It's been quite a rough year for me and while I do have a chapter or two for this story, they are not what I wish they would be. I want to let you know that I will come back! I will be working on other stories in the mean time, so check those out! I am so sorry, but I hope it won't be long until I continue writing.


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